Hurricane Harvey: K9 Kindness Rescue Operations

An additional 1 to 2 dogs may be coming in from the Texas/Louisiana area over the next few days. This would bring our total to 10 to 11 dogs from Harvey. The response to these dogs has been incredible, and we continue to sort through things to make sure they are put in the best possible home.

Looking ahead – Hurricane Irma was located just north of Cuba at 1 pm CDT. She had 125 mph sustained winds and was rated a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Tropical storm force winds were already impacting the Florida Keys. Our team continues to monitor Irma and is working to see if there might be any resources available to assist in relief efforts in Florida once the storm passes.

This will be the last update on Harvey dogs on this post. For further updates regarding Harvey dogs and relief efforts, please see our homepage or our Facebook page.

Update: 6 September 2017 at 19:46 CDT

WHBF sat down with our Vice President today to also talk about the new Texas pups that arrived last night. Two dogs visited the vet today and seemed to check out okay, the rest have been settling in. You can see the story here.

Our first and original team left Texas early this afternoon and is on the road back to the Quad Cities tonight.

Ahead of information of Irma, our focus is primarily going to be centered on these dogs that just came in – mainly due to funding. We are still wading through adoption and foster applications and have received an absolutely incredible response from the community. It will take some time for us to get through everything, but rest assured we’ll get to you as soon as we possibly can.

Further Harvey updates can be found on our homepage as we prepare to get these pups added into our records and system. More info as it becomes available.

Update: 5 September 2017 at 22:34 CDT

The pups are here, and 2 are already adoption pending. After quite the trip back the team pulled into the Mallard Pointe Kennel parking lot after 7 this evening. News crews were on hand for the exchange and postings and listings will go up as soon as possible.

Final update for the evening. More info as it becomes available. Keep watching our homepage for the latest on the dogs that just arrived.

Update: 5 September 2017 at 19:43 CDT

We are staked out on location with WQAD and KWQC in Coal Valley for the arrival of the team that left on Saturday. This team is bringing back with them a total of nine (9) dogs from the affected areas of Texas. Stay tuned for more…

We still have an agent in Southeast Texas assisting with further relief efforts – including animal rescue.

Update: 3 September 2017 at 14:28 CDT

Team 2 arrived in Mauriceville, Texas early this afternoon. The plan was to extract animals from a home where apparent hoarders had resided. Donations have been diverted from Lake Charles, Louisiana to Mauriceville as well (as Lake Charles has reported they have all the supplies they need). There were at least several dogs and a litter of kittens pulled from the home already by our team as of this update and a second rescue is planned later this afternoon. There may be as many as 60 rabbits as well.

A third transports of supplies is being planned right now – so donations for supplies to the area are still being taken.

Update: 2 September 2017 at 15:32 CDT

The Texas SPCA has located the donkey and is attempting rescue of the animal. Other relief efforts continue.

The second team that will be embarking this evening has collected the first wave of donated goods to be delivered early tomorrow morning. They should be leaving Bettendorf something in the next two hours. Additional donations of goods can be delivered to our rescue office at any time for the second shipment.

Update: 2 September 2017 at 11:22 CDT

A second team of volunteers departed for Texas to link up with the first team this morning. The krew left with a truck full of supplies for animal rescue and relief efforts as well.

Update on the situation reported on last night – Unbreakable Bullies volunteers from Des Moines, Iowa made contact with our volunteers already in Texas late last night. They managed to track down and rescue the majority of the dogs described last night. The pig was found dead – likely killed by the dogs that were released as they were totally starved. The donkey was not located. These dogs that were rescued are now on the road en route back to Iowa.

Rescue and relief efforts continue today.

Update: 1 September 2017 at 20:42 CDT

We are making calls to as many of our contacts as possible coordinating relief efforts. One of these contacts associated with bully rescues in Des Moines on her way back from the disaster area has rerouted back to Mauriceville in an effort to attempt to locate some of the animals described earlier. There are also rescue connections in Dallas that have been making frequent trips.

K9 Kindness Rescue’s second team will be deploying from the Illinois side of the river bright and early tomorrow with a large quantity of donations and goods for the people in Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. They will be returning with a few dogs as well. A second transport associated with other local area groups is set to arrive this weekend with eight (8) dogs that will be temporarily housed at Mallard Pointe.

Update: 1 September 2017 at 19:52 CDT

Heartbreaking scenes from our team in Mauriceville, Texas. They’ve come up on several properties with animals in homes still, and no means to be able to pull them out. This has included several dogs, a pig, and a donkey. These locations were only accessible by boat, and the water level is rising. Emergency services are limited in these areas, and there are no means for the small boats being used to remove these animals from the property. All animals that were bound were released as a last ditch effort.

If you have any means to help, even change, donations to local emergency teams, rescues, humane societies or even our own here to help our efforts would be greatly appreciated and would go a long way in helping these animals who are helpless be saved.

Update: 1 September 2017 at 11:44 CDT

There seems to have been a glitch in the plan for the dogs staying in Des Moines last night. Harvey dogs will now arrive shortly before midnight on Sunday, 3 September.

Update: 31 August 2017 at 20:24 CDT

The dogs on their way from Texas are having to stay overnight in Des Moines. They will arrive in the Quad Cities now early tomorrow morning – likely before 1000 AM.

The K9 Krew in Texas reports that the water in Orange, Texas is half way up the doors on large trucks – to people’s houses (that’s approximately 24 to 40 inches). By comparison, the average Labrador Retriever stands at about 24 inches in height.

Update: 31 August 2017 at 16:41 CDT

The K9 Krew down in Texas has linked up with the True Cajun Navy and is one of 25 search boats participating in DHS Rescue Operations. A second Krew team will be departing this weekend.

Our rescue dogs are still on schedule and en route as of this update.

Update: 31 August 2017 at 15:01 CDT

K9 Kindness Rescue has spoken up for six (6) dogs from the disaster who are all in transit at this time to the Quad Cities. They are expected to arrive sometime late this evening.

We are now accepting goods to be packaged and sent to victims in the disaster area. You can drop any useful items off at the rescue office during hours of business and operation.

Update: 30 August 2017 at 21:28 CDT

K9 Kindness Rescue team is in Lake Charles, Louisiana at this time. Reports multiple levee breaches and that Interstate 10 is completely inaccessible. This will be the stay over point, and tomorrow will be onward to Beaumont, Texas – barring any unforeseen events.

No further updates on rescue activities at home at this time – and this will be the last addendum for the evening.

Original post: 30 August 2017 at 17:42 CDT

We currently are involved in multiple Hurricane Harvey operations at the moment. This post should be used as a springboard of information for people who want more information on how to help Harvey dogs local to Quad City area.

There are three fronts on which we are involved in relief efforts at this time…

We are working with Mallard Pointe Kennels in Coal Valley, IL to rescue four (4) to six (6) dogs from areas affected by Hurricane Harvey in Southeast Texas.

We have a member of the K9 Kindness Rescue volunteer groups that is en route to Beaumont, Texas to assist with relief efforts – and may also be returning with (a) dog(s) from Southwestern Louisiana.

We are currently working on beginning to launch a workshop to help build care packages to send to families in need in the impacted areas.

Some things to remember:

K9 Kindness Rescue is not spearheading any rescue pulls or in charge of coordinating (large scale) rescue pulls in the emergency area.

We do not have the means to pull large quantities of animals from the emergency area, so the number that ultimately returns over the next week will be the only amount rescued.

We are not allowed to collect donations on behalf of impacted animal welfare organizations in the emergency area. (We have composed a list of organizations here.)

You can make a donation to help a Harvey animal that is in the care of K9 Kindness Rescue by specifying that your donation is explicitly for that dog.

You can also make a donation to help us pay down current vet bills in order to make room for any medical needs these incoming dogs may have.

You can help out with fostering a dog to enable space for a Harvey animal within K9 Kindness Rescue.

We currently have a Go-Fund-Me up and running right now geared towards reducing current vet bills in order to open up opportunities for Harvey dogs.

Updates on Harvey dogs until they arrive will be posted on this page, as will any additional updates regarding the involvement of our organization in relief efforts. They will be posted above with a timestamp attached. You can also view updates on our Facebook page via K9 Kindness Rescue.